PSEB begins `load-shedding’

PATIALA, May 27: The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has resorted to curbs in power supply to meet the yawning gap in the power demand...

PATIALA, May 27: The Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) has resorted to curbs in power supply to meet the yawning gap in the power demand and availability position.

According to reliable sources in the board, the PSEB has been resorting to “emergency load shedding” of seven to eight hours daily in the rural areas and upto two hours in the urban areas for the last three to four days. However, important cities including Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala have been left out for the time being.

These sources pointed out that this position was likely to continue till the weekend. Presently one unit of the Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant, Bathinda (100 mw) and two units of Ropar Thermal Plant (420 mw) were closed down.

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Power generation had not yet stabilised at the Lehra Mohabbat plant.However, the board hopes that things may improve after the Bathinda unit become functional next week. The board is already getting 500 mw power from hydel sources.

The present demand of power in Punjab is about 800 lakh units per day despite the present curbs against the availability of about 750 lakh units. To maintain the system, the PSEB is getting about 50 lakh units daily from Central sources.

Incidentally, last year the peak demand in the state was 900 lakh units. In view of the severe heat wave the demand is likely to increase in the coming days and may surpass the last year’s peak load.

The PSEB has already notified rotational off days for industrial units in the state. Every industrial city has assigned a weekly `off-day’ when the units would remain shut.

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Meanwhile, Kirpal Singh Gill, member (operation), PSEB, said the board had signed agreements with Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir for purchase of power. While Himachal Pradesh would supply Punjab 40 lakh units daily, Jammu and Kashmir was to supply about 10 lakh units. The supply from these two states would begin from June 1.